scholarly journals Popular nationalism: Global Times and the US–China trade war

2019 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenna Zeng ◽  
Colin Sparks

This article analyses the coverage of the current US–China trade war in the Global Times. Some scholars argue that official nationalism, which stress the unity of the Chinese people, is challenged by popular nationalism, which privileges the dominant Han ethnicity, and that official nationalism is forced to make concessions to popular nationalism. If this is true, then one would expect to find evidence in the coverage of international issues in a ‘popular’ official newspaper like Global Times. The newspaper’s coverage stresses negative features of the USA, but devotes considerable space to the damage that Trump's policies are doing to ordinary Americans. It does not present China as the unique victim of US economic aggression. The coverage stresses broad international agreement for free trade, leaving the USA isolated in adopting protectionist policies. At least in this instance, state-led nationalism remains central and no concessions are made to popular sentiments.

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-55
Author(s):  
Mohamad Zreik

AbstractThe Chinese Ministry of Commerce issued a statement Friday morning, July 6, 2018, confirming the outbreak of a trade war between the United States and China. The statement came after the United States imposed tariffs on many Chinese goods, in violation of international and bilateral agreements, and the destruction of the concept of free trade which the United States calls for following it. It is a war of opposite directions, especially the contradiction between the new Trump policy and the Chinese approach. The proof is what US Defense Secretary James Matisse announced in Singapore in early June 2018 of “the full strategy of the new United States, in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific,” where China was the “sole enemy of the United States” in China’s geostrategic region. Intentions have become publicized, and trade war between the two economic giants is turning into a reality. This paper will give an overview of the US-China scenario of trade war, then a focused analysis on the Trump’s administration economic decision regarding China, and the consequences of this decision.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Imad A. Moosa

The current trade war between the USA and China is perceived to be motivated by the US desire to curtail the bilateral trade deficit, on the assumption that reducing the deficit boosts economic growth. This flawed proposition indicates gross misunderstanding of the national income identity and the basic principles of macroeconomics. The imposition of tariffs will not reduce the trade deficit as the assumptions and conditions required for a smooth working of the process are unrealistic and counterfactual. The notion of an economic Thucydides trap is put forward to explain why the trade war is motivated by US apprehension about China’s rising economic power.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min-hyung Kim

Purpose According to the conventional wisdom, trade is not a zero-sum game, but a positive-sum game. By allowing countries to focus on producing the goods that they can produce relatively efficiently, free trade is largely beneficial for everyone involved. Then, why are the world’s two largest economies (i.e. the USA and China) currently engaged in a trade war, which is likely to hurt their own economies? What is the driving force for the trade war between the two economic giants? The purpose of this paper is to offer an explanation of the underlying cause of the US–China trade war. Design/methodology/approach In an effort to make sense of the trade war between the USA and China, the paper draws the insights from the two international relations theories – i.e. hegemonic stability theory and power transition theory. Findings As China continues to threaten US hegemony in the world in general and East Asia in particular, the Sino–US competition for hegemony will intensify over time. As a result, the trade war between the two countries may persist longer than many anticipate. Further, even if the trade war between the two superpowers ends soon, a similar type of conflict is likely to occur later as long as the Sino–US hegemonic rivalry continues. Originality/value The central thesis of this paper is that “US fear” about its declining hegemony and China’s rapid rise as a challenger of US hegemony is driving a US-launched trade war with China. Since the underlying cause of the trade war between the world’s two largest economies is political (i.e. the Sino–US hegemonic rivalry) rather than economic (e.g. US attempts to improve the trade balance with China by imposing tariffs on Chinese goods), the paper contends that the full understanding of the trade war requires close attention to the importance of power competition between the two superpowers.


2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-76
Author(s):  
Carrie Shu Shang ◽  
Wei Shen

ABSTRACT The Economic and Trade Agreement between the USA and the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter the ‘Phase One Agreement’) concluded in January 2020 leaves many important questions unanswered. This article goes beyond narrow textualist approaches and seeks to conceptualize the current trade tension by providing an alternative narrative with a focus on China’s post–Trade War commitments to higher intellectual property rights standards. In particular, it focuses on the bilateral interaction between the USA and China during and shortly after the Trade War and how the interaction impacts China’s legal changes from a transnational law perspective. It further argues that US-reinforced intellectual property rights rules have potentially paved the way for further US–China trade and investment talks. However, in order to better maintain a long-term balance between preservation of policymaking autonomy and regulation of protectionist measures, an approach better aligned with the World Trade Organization framework needs to be pursued.


2021 ◽  
pp. 097491012110341
Author(s):  
Hilda Yanuar Jong

The US–China trade war creates significant opportunities for developing countries, as global manufacturers need to relocate their production facilities out of China to avoid future tariff hikes. However, Indonesia as the biggest economy in the ASEAN is not experiencing any substantial advantage relative to its neighbors, especially compared to Vietnam. While there is no clarity on how long the trade war will last, it is important for Indonesia to strategize quickly to capitalize the opportunities. This article addresses the question of how Indonesia should strategize through country comparison and analysis of two types of policy competition, namely, incentives-based (IBC) and rules-based competition (RBC). In the short-term, Indonesia should be more accommodating for investors of all sizes and maximize the trade-related investment assistance. In the longer term, Indonesia should prudently open up to trade, improve cooperation between investment and trade functions, and build a positive public mindset for free trade.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastien Goulard

Since April 2018, the USA and China have been engaged in a trade war. Because of the importance of these two countries in world trade, this dispute does affect not only the Chinese and American economies but also the entire world. Several studies have shown the impact of this dispute on different countries in Asia, but little was done to study the effect on European Union (EU) member states. The trade war between the USA and China should not let us forget the trade disputes between Washington and Brussels on one hand and EU–China trade differences on the other hand. This article will take stock of European policy towards the USA and China in this trade war; we will study the consequences of the US–China trade war on the exchanges between Europe and China and analyze the possible diversion created by this trade war for the European market.


Author(s):  
Irina Onyusheva ◽  
Rungnapa Khamboocha ◽  
Nipaporn Muangmutcha

This paper analyzes the economic consequences of the trade war ongoing between the USA and China as applied to Thailand. The paper mainly focuses on the relationship between the global tariffs’ imposition during this US-China trade war as they directly hit several Thai export products as well as the US-China trade war impact on Thai business via dumping goods into Thailand and Thai products intermediately affected by the tariffs imposed on Chinese or US goods. Recently, it has been illustrated by many researchers and economists that trade wars, especially between those waged between such large economies have adverse economic effects on the global economy and international trade. This paper utilizes PESTEL and also causes and consequences analysis to explain the trends of the US or China exports of goods and services to Thailand, Thai intermediate inputs indirectly affected by the tariffs imposed on Chinese or US goods and dumping goods into Thailand as the latter could intensify domestic competition.


2021 ◽  
pp. 026327642199944
Author(s):  
Quinn Slobodian

This article recounts the backlash against the neoliberal constitutionalism that locked in free trade and capital rights through the multilateral treaty organizations of the 1990s. It argues that we can find important forces in the disruption of the status quo among the elite losers of the 1990s settlement. Undercut by competition from China, the US steel industry, in particular, became a vocal opponent of unconditional free trade and a red thread linking all of Trump’s primary advisers on matters of trade. Steel lobbyists themselves helped frame a critique of actually existing neoliberal globalism, which Trump both adopted and acted on as part of his trade war. By searching for the contemporary attack on neoliberal constitutionalism among the disgruntled corporate elite, we find that our current crisis must be framed as a backlash from above as well as one from below.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vasilios Plakandaras ◽  
Elie Bouri ◽  
Rangan Gupta
Keyword(s):  
The Us ◽  

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